A painting chief executive officer decides what a home painting company sells, where it grows, and how much work goes to its own crews or to subcontracted painters. The CEO leads the senior team, wins the big accounts, and answers to the owner, a board or investors.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, specialty trade contractors · BLS, May 2025
Lead the organization by defining the strategic vision, fostering sustainable growth, and driving operational excellence within the painting industry. Act as the primary visionary responsible for securing major painting contracts and establishing our market leadership. Ensure that all business and operational decisions align with the company’s mission and long-term goals.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Develop and implement a clear strategic vision for the company’s future in the painting industry.
Foster organizational growth by identifying new business opportunities and optimizing operational efficiencies.
Secure, negotiate, and oversee major painting contracts to drive revenue and market share expansion.
Lead executive teams and provide mentorship to senior management to ensure alignment with corporate goals.
Cultivate and maintain high-level relationships with key stakeholders, partners, and industry influencers.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review and analyze key performance metrics and financial reports to drive strategic decisions.
Hold regular executive meetings to review progress, address challenges, and strategize improvements.
Engage with potential clients and partners to discuss and secure high-value painting projects.
Oversee contract negotiations, ensuring compliance with company standards and industry regulations.
Represent the company at industry events, trade shows, and high-level networking opportunities.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Annual Revenue Growth: Target a minimum of 20% increase in revenue.
New Painting Contracts Secured: Achieve at least 15 new high-value contracts per year.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: Maintain a satisfaction score of over 4.8 stars.
Gross Margin Improvement: Increase gross margins by 10% year-over-year.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Management, or a related field; MBA preferred.
Minimum of 10 years of executive leadership experience, preferably within the home services or painting industry.
Strong strategic planning, negotiation, and contract management skills.
Excellent communication, leadership, and decision-making abilities.
6. Preferred Experience
Proven track record in leading growth initiatives and securing major contracts in the painting or related industries.
Prior experience working in a CEO or executive leadership role within a home services company.
Background in managing multi-disciplinary teams and large-scale projects.
Demonstrated success in navigating competitive markets and driving operational improvements.
7. Physical Requirements
Primarily office-based role with minimal physical exertion required.
Occasional travel to project sites, industry events, and client meetings.
Ability to work in varied environments including client locations and on-site evaluations.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard office hours with flexibility based on business needs and industry events.
Occasional extended hours during peak project periods or critical business negotiations.
Regular domestic and international travel required for high-level meetings and industry events.
On-call duties may be required during major contracts or rapid business growth phases.
Performance-based bonuses tied to achieving key revenue and growth targets.
Comprehensive Health, Dental, and Vision insurance.
401(k) plan with company match as applicable.
Additional fringe benefits including paid time off, professional development allowances, and executive perks.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are a forward-thinking, growth-oriented company committed to excellence in the painting industry.
Our culture champions innovation, inclusivity, and professional development to help you level up and succeed.
Emphasizing teamwork and transparency, we strive to create an environment where all voices are heard and every member is valued.
Join us in our mission to redefine industry standards and drive unprecedented growth.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
Top jobs look alike on paper. In residential repainting, three things shape the CEO's biggest choices: the season, the labor model and the age of the houses.
Every new state has its own rules
Each new state brings new paperwork. California's contractor board issues a C-33 license for painting and decorating. Washington requires contractors to register with L&I and carry a bond and insurance. A specialty contractor there can't hire subs, which matters if sub crews do part of your work. Lead rules differ too: Wisconsin runs its own lead-safe certification for renovators and companies. The CEO builds all of this into the launch plan. Source: Washington L&I: Register as a contractor.
Own crews, subs or both
In-house crews give you control over prep, scheduling and training. Subcontracted painters add capacity for the exterior rush without a full winter payroll. Each mix changes margin, quality checks and legal risk. The CEO picks the mix, decides how much of the work subs may do, and makes sure the company can still honor its warranty after a sub moves on.
Outdoor work follows the weather
According to BLS, painting jobs done outside may be seasonal. In colder markets, exterior jobs bunch into the warm months and slow when it turns cold. The CEO decides how to keep good painters busy all year. Selling interior repaints and cabinet work for the winter is a common answer. Marketing, hiring and borrowing get timed around that swing. Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Painters, construction and maintenance.
Large accounts are a different business
The template asks the CEO to secure major contracts. For a residential painter, that can mean HOA repaints, property managers with many units, or home builders. These accounts bring volume, but they push on price, ask for insurance certificates and set their own payment terms. The CEO decides how much of the schedule to tie to them, since losing one can leave crews idle.
Painters are trained, not found
BLS says painters typically learn by working, and formal apprenticeships are less common. So the next crew leader often comes from inside. It's the CEO's call how much to invest in a training ladder from apprentice to journeyman to crew leader, and whether slow winter weeks become paid training time. Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Painters, construction and maintenance.
How much painting chief executive officers make
The closest BLS group for painting chief executive officers is chief executives. Chief executives who work for specialty trade contractors earned a median of $169,170 a year ($81.33 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $213,990 median for chief executives in all industries. About 3,830 of the 204,350 chief executives in that survey work for specialty trade contractors.
Most painting CEOs earn a salary and a yearly bonus on full-year revenue and gross margin. Equity, if offered, is worked out case by case.
Specialty trade contractors
$169,170$169,170 median Middle half $100,570–$283,340 10th–90th $69,930–$386,670
All industries
$213,990$213,990 median Middle half $129,540–$356,200 10th–90th $75,700–$507,730
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Specialty trade contractors
$69,930
$100,570
$169,170
$283,340
$386,670
All industries
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
BLS counts too few chief executives at painting contractors for a steady figure, so these figures cover specialty trade contractors. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has owned a profit and loss for a company or a large division
Has built a leadership team from people promoted out of crews and sales
Has opened a new location or market and staffed it
Understands in-home selling, from lead to signed contract
Can judge whether a large account's price is worth the volume
Has kept good crews working through a slow season
Teach these on the job
Paint products, prep methods and finish standards
Lead-safe rules for homes built before 1978
Which neighborhoods and housing ages each branch serves
Which paint brands you sell and why
The HOA and property manager accounts you already serve
The numbers a painting CEO checks most are sold backlog by branch, close rates on in-home estimates and gross margin by service line, pulled from the accounting software and an estimating or CRM system such as PaintScout or DripJobs. In late winter, backlog shows whether spring crews will have work.
Pick each target from two or three of your own past seasons, not the template's sample figures, because one wet spring can make a single year look worse than it was.
Annual Revenue Growth
Total revenue for the year, split into exteriors, interiors and cabinets. Check the mix too: growth that comes only from exteriors leaves the company exposed to a bad-weather year.
New Painting Contracts Secured
First define a high-value contract for your business, such as an HOA repaint, a property manager agreement or a job above a set size. Then count the signed ones each quarter and track how many renew.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
The company's average rating on review sites, plus the score each homeowner gives at the final walkthrough. Read the lowest-rated comments yourself each month; they show which branch or sub needs attention.
Gross Margin Improvement
Compare this year's gross margin with last year's for exteriors, interiors and cabinets separately. Settle with the CFO which costs count as job costs, so sub invoices or paint aren't counted one way this year and another way next.
Career path
Sales managerBuilds and coaches the in-home sales team.
General managerLearns to balance sales, crews and a branch's profit.
What does a painting company CEO spend the week on?
Less painting than people expect. A typical week mixes a leadership meeting, a look at sold backlog and margins by branch, a call with the bank or investors, and time with a large account or a company that might be for sale. In the slow season, the CEO sets next year's plan: branch openings, price changes, crew hiring targets and the spring marketing budget.
How much does a painting chief executive officer make?
Chief executives who work for specialty trade contractors earned a median of $169,170 a year ($81.33 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $100,570 and $283,340 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Who reports to the CEO at a painting company?
At a company this size, usually the COO, the CFO and the head of sales or marketing. Branch general managers report up through the COO or a director of operations. Keep the CEO's direct reports to a handful, or job-level problems will land on the CEO's desk again.
When should a painting company owner hire a CEO?
Not while the owner is still the best estimator, the top closer and the last word on every complaint. That owner needs a sales manager and a general manager first. A CEO makes sense once those managers run their areas well and the open questions are about where the company goes next: more branches, more cabinet work, a merger. Agree up front which decisions stay with you.
Should a painting company CEO buy other painting companies?
Buying a competitor can add crews, customers and a new territory faster than hiring. It also brings someone else's warranty promises, sub relationships and habits. Before buying, the CEO should check the seller's job costing, open warranty claims, license and lead-safe records, and whether the crews and estimators plan to stay.
What should a painting CEO job ad include?
Edit the template before posting. It calls for regular international travel, which few residential painters need. Then answer what candidates will ask on the first call: how much of the painting subs do, how the work splits between exteriors, interiors and cabinets, and whether the founder still sells jobs.
